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First cryptocurrency index fund opens to investors

Cryptos Fund, which passively tracks the CCI30 cryptocurrency index and paves the way for investors to diversify their cryptocurrency risk, has become available.

Cryptos Fund told Private Banker International it is registered as a corporation in the Cayman Islands and as a limited partnership in the USA.

The US entity is called “Cryptos Fund (US) LP”.

The team say Cryptos Fund is the only “regulated fund offering a passive index tracking investment strategy on cryptocurrencies,” free of performance fees.

Carlo Scevola, principal at Cryptos Fund, said: “Cryptos Fund was initially created as a private investment vehicle. I first bought Bitcoin in 2011, and when its value became substantial I wanted to diversify into other cryptocurrencies with a rigorous scientific approach. There was no suitable option available, so I created my own fund.”

The CCI30 index is there in place to hedge against cryptocurrency risk and maximise returns in a balanced portfolio. The fund replicates the CCI30 index by passively investing in the components of the index of the 30 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation.

A minimum investment of $100,000 is required to enable investor participation in the fund. While no performance fees are charged, an annual management fee of 0.99% is charged.

Scevola added: “No single investor can realistically own multiple cryptocurrencies directly. It requires time and experience to buy 30 different cryptocurrencies and keep the portfolio balanced.

“There are also technical and security requirements that only a dedicated professional structure can meet. Through Cryptos Fund, anyone can gain exposure to the main cryptocurrencies while reducing the volatility of the investment.”

Cryptos Fund was founded by Igor Rivin, a mathematics professor at Temple University, Carlo Scevola, economist and investor and Jeff Zorn, a global security expert.

Rivin said: “Cryptocurrencies are not correlated with other asset classes [making] Cryptos Fund the perfect vehicle for adding diversification to a portfolio. The fund can also be viewed as a safe vehicle for storing capital.”

At the moment Cryptos Fund said it is taking subscriptions only from non-US investors.

But it will be made it available to US investors within a couple of months, after it has gone through the whole regulatory process.